Unique Brand Of Chaos
by klutzysunshine
Summary: The Quinn family leans into the chaos when Nancy unexpectedly gets pregnant, although she and Don are thrown for a loop.


When Nancy told Don they needed to talk, he immediately assumed the worst - and his family chiming in didn't help either. "Did you screw up somehow?" Sean asked. Upon seeing the look on his father's face, he backpedaled. "Never mind, you never screw up."

Joy rolled her eyes at her husband. "Seriously, did you?"

Don glared at his daughter-in-law. "I did not screw up! Why does everyone always assume it's me that screws up?"

"Because that's your track record," an amused Kayla pointed out. She only shrugged when Don directed his glare towards her.

"How long have you two been dating now?" Patsy questioned as she bounced Meg up and down in an effort to calm her and hopefully get the baby to sleep.

"Fourteen months." That was pretty great for Don, considering how often he screwed up in the beginning of their relationship (not that he'd ever admit that to them. He had some pride, after all).

"If Emmy and Matt were around, they could help figure out where you went wrong," Todd murmured.

"Shut up, Todd!" the whole group (minus Patsy) yelled.

"You're mean," he grumbled.

"Do you want us to stay for support? We can help you afterwards," Patsy offered, sighing in relief when Meg's eyes finally closed. She didn't dare put the baby down in fear she'd wake her up.

Don shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, Pats, but I got this. I'll call you if I need you - I'm going over to her house." He didn't want to give into the fear trying to overwhelm him but he couldn't help but worry about what his girlfriend wanted to discuss. Like the others, it sounded like Nancy wanted to break up with him. He thought their relationship was going well but maybe he was wrong. She had been feeling off lately, cancelling dates because she was sick. Maybe she wasn't actually sick and had just changed her mind?

Joy interrupted his dark train of thought. "Don! Get your head of your ass and go so you know for sure."

"Fine. You'll all be here when I get home?" he asked, reluctantly conceding defeat. Nothing was a secret in this family, not anymore. They had all learned that honesty was definitely the best policy.

"Most likely." Sean didn't even care when Don's gaze landed on him - he smiled at his father.

"See you when I get back." Don inhaled and exhaled a few times before he got in his car and drove to Nancy's house. Fortunately, Bryan - who had adjusted to his mother's boyfriend, even though he couldn't stand the Quinns as a whole - didn't answer the door. That never went well. Nancy looked unwell when she opened the door, though, which meant that she truly was sick. "You feeling okay?" he asked her.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. That's actually what we need to talk about." She ushered him into the house and forced him to sit down on the living room couch.

He took a deep breath. "Are you breaking up with me?"

Nancy side-eyed him. "Don, why would I be breaking up with you?" This man, sometimes. Why did she love him? Oh yeah, he was sweet and so loving, despite his large, weird family.

Don gave a relieved laugh and hung his head. "Remind me not to let the kids get in my head again. Always a mistake."

"Not always," she reminded him with a smile. She picked up his hand and squeezed it.

"So if you're not breaking up with me, what did you want to talk about?" Now Don was confused and floundering.

"You know how old we are?" Nancy questioned.

Confused at the non-sequitur, he could only nod. "Yes. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just answer the damn question, Don," she snapped, immediately regretting it.

Perturbed and a little scared, he did just that. "I'm fifty-nine and you're forty-seven."

"How old are our kids? And your grandkids?"

Still confused, Don rattled off their ages rather quickly. "Sean's thirty-seven, Patsy's thirty-five, Kayla's thirty-one, Emmy's twenty-five, and Bryan's seventeen. As for the grandkids, Sean Junior's fourteen, Donny's twelve, Margie's almost two, and Meg is six months old. Nancy, why are we discussing everybody's ages?"

She chuckled nervously. "Just to put this into perspective." Nancy still didn't tell him, though, and left Don hanging.

"To put what into perspective?" Now he was nervous. "Are you sick?"

Nancy hesitated for a second. "In a way. You know how off I've been feeling lately? How I kept cancelling our dates?"

"Yes," he answered, dreading what she was about to tell him. He had already gone through this with Margaret and was terrified about the next words out of Nancy's mouth.

She blew out a breath. "I'm pregnant."

Stunned into silence, he couldn't find the words and his mouth dropped open. "Say what now?"

"I'm pregnant. Couldn't figure out what was the matter with me - didn't feel like the flu - so I had some tests run at the hospital. It took an ultrasound to convince me of the truth. Didn't realize at first because my period is irregular due to my age. Almost in menopause but you still knocked me up! It took the ultrasound - despite one of my friends running the blood test three separate times - to convince me."

"You're pregnant," he confirmed, unable to wrap his head around the bombshell that had just been dropped on him.

She nodded and handed him the ultrasound. "And it's twins! Double surprise!"

"Twins? We're having two babies. Not just one, which would have been shocking enough on its own. I"m a grandfather! Bryan's almost out of your house!"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Nancy laughed. "Exactly! I'm about four months along, and morning sickness is a bitch. This is the last thing I expected at my age - let alone yours, I'm sure - but I'm actually kinda excited about this. Terrified but excited."

A little dizzy, Don could only be glad that he was now sitting down. To be a father again at his age was surreal and he really didn't know how to react. Like Nancy, he was terrified and a little bit excited. Starting all over again wasn't appealing but he was sure she felt the same way. "Wow."

She stared at him. "If you even think about proposing to protect my honor or whatever, I will punch you," she threatened.

He laughed. "I wasn't." Don just hadn't gotten that far yet. And he did plan on proposing but not yet. They weren't there at this moment in time. But despite the situation they were facing, he couldn't wait to welcome these two babies with the woman he loved. "I love you, Nancy."

She grinned at him. "I love you too, Don." Nancy wasn't surprised when he leaned over and kissed her, placing a hand on her swelling abdomen.

* * *

When Don got home, he wasn't surprised to find everyone (minus Emmy and Matt, still in London) waiting for him. He had told them he expected it, after all. Nancy had given him the go ahead to tell the others - the ultrasound had cleared both her and the babies, although it was a high risk pregnancy - but he was still nervous. "So, did she break up with you?" asked a curious Joy, unable to stand the suspense anymore when Don hadn't said a word a few minutes after walking back into the house.

He shook his head. "No. A break-up was the last thing on her mind."

"Is everything okay?" questioned a concerned Patsy, noting the pale look on her father's face. What if something bad had gone down anyway?

"In a way. Sit down." He didn't want anybody passing out like he almost did.

They all exchanged worried looks but sat down anyway. "What is it? Is she sick or something?" Worried, Todd voiced the first thought in his head.

"In a way," Don hedged. He couldn't help the chuckle that escaped. "Nancy's pregnant."

Sean Jr. was the first to react and he laughed. "Gross!" But he tried to high five his grandfather anyway, who didn't do it back. Dejected, he sat back down.

"She's pregnant. At her age. At your age!" Patsy wondered if she had heard right.

Kayla snickered. "Emmy's not going to be the baby anymore!" When her brother and sisters turned to stare at her, she shrugged. "What? I"m trying to look on the bright side here!" she defended herself. She calmed down once Vanessa kissed her, however.

Don decided to drop the second bomb then just to see their reaction. "It's twins!" He pulled the ultrasound out of his pocket and held it in his hand, waiting for someone to grab the picture.

Sean was the first to do so as Joy started cackling. "You're having two babies at your age! So many sleepless nights in your future," she taunted.

"We're having two new siblings. What the hell," Sean murmured, unable to comprehend the news.

"Well, this is certainly shocking. I just had a baby of my own and here is my father is, out here knocking up his girlfriend. But this is fine! We can work with this." Patsy tried desperately to look on the bright side and tried to hold back sobs.

Todd couldn't help but cackle with Joy. "Glad it's not me!" he laughed. He immediately regretted it when Patsy sent a glare in his direction.

"Same here! Margie was our last baby, thank God. You can't give these two back like you do with the grandkids," Joy told Don, unable to stop laughing.

"Congratulations!" Sean Junior told his grandfather in all sincerity. Everyone took it as sarcasm, however.

"Thanks, kid." Don could only shake his head in amusement at him.

"Well, I'm choosing to look on the bright side. We get two new baby siblings, and we can spread the love some more." Kayla hugged her dad, and the others quickly followed suit.

* * *

It took a long time for everyone to come around - especially Patsy - but they were excited when Nancy went into labor and delivered two healthy baby girls. Emmy and Matt flew home to meet her new sisters a week after they were born.

"I saw the pictures but they're even more adorable in person!" she told Matt excitedly.

"They are," he conceded. Like Todd and Joy, he hadn't been able to stop making fun of Don throughout the whole pregnancy. As much as they adored the two newest Quinns, they'd continue to do it.

Patsy didn't want to give the oldest twin - Katherine Alexandra - up. "Back off, she's mine," she warned Todd when he attempted to pick her up.

"Mean," he murmured before going to get Meg from the playpen.

Emmy also didn't want to give up the other twin. "Hi there, Miss Dylan Rachel. It's so nice to meet you and Katherine. I'm your big sister, Emmy, and I can't believe I can finally say that. I've been the youngest all my life, and now that's not true. You are both so adorable I can't even deal with it." She began rocking the sleeping newborn back and forth.

Don wrapped his arm around Nancy. "Our whole family is finally together," he told her.

She beamed at him even as a fight erupted between Joy and Patsy over who got to hold Katherine. "Exactly the chaos this group thrives on. Nice." But she stood up and glared at them. "If anybody wakes these babies up, I will murder you!"

They immediately quieted down and Bryan swooped in out of nowhere to pick up Dylan against Emmy's protests. "She's mine for now."

"Not fair!" Emmy pouted.

"Somebody give my wife a baby," Matt pleaded. He saw the obvious joke coming and headed Joy off at the pass. "Don't you dare."

"Knock your wife up, baby duck," she sing-songed. She picked Margie up and handed her over to Emmy.

"Thank you," Matt and Emmy responded at the same time.

"I think it's my turn for a baby. Hand one over," an impatient Kayla pleaded. She was grateful when Bryan gave her Dylan. "Hi, little sister."

"You look good with a baby," Vanessa told her girlfriend.

"Yeah?" Kayla asked.

"Yes," Vanessa confirmed.

"We should have one of our own," Kayla mused. The thought had scared the hell out of her during her marriage to Alan but a baby with Vanessa? It was thrilling.

Her girlfriend gasped. "Really?" Having a baby with the woman she loved sounded exciting (and terrifying but mostly exciting).

Kayla giggled and leaned over to kiss Vanessa. "One hundred percent yes. Let's do this."

The family continued to pass the babies back and forth between them, throwing Margie and Meg into the mix when someone started complaining.

Nancy kissed her boyfriend. "Regretting having the whole crew over yet?"

"Not on your life." Granted, the holidays were about to be even more chaotic but he looked forward to it.

Don and Nancy married in a civil ceremony with only their family in attendance just days before the next Christmas, wanting to make the holiday even more special. Katherine and Dylan had been the biggest surprises of their life and despite how the twins had upended everything, the two of them didn't mind any of it. Except the sleepless night and countless dirty diapers. But they had their large, loving, weird-ass family with them, and that made all the difference.


End file.
